Summer of Food: the Beginning (Lobster)

Final Exams are finished!  Summer is here!  Now there's nothing left for me to do except lay around on the couch.  Or not.  Since I have so much free time on my hands, I have been asked to cook at least one meal a week.  I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to make some more instrucables, because I haven't made any for a while now.  I decided to do something interesting for my first week: Lobster.  I have cooked them before, but that was at least four years ago.  So we went to the Grocery Store and got ourselves a Lobster!

Step 1: Tools and Ingredients

To cook a lobster, you're going to need a few things:

-A Pot large enough to hold the lobster(s)
-A Cutting Board
-A Big, Sharp Knife

Also...

-A Lobster
-Salt
-Water
-A Lemon

To make Eating the Lobster more easy, it would be best if you had lobster crackers and forks.  Butter warmers are also nice, but not even close to neccesary.

Step 2: Preparation

We want to be as nice to the lobsters as possible, and the best method to cause them as little pain as possible is to chill them so that they are in a coma like state.  To do this, all you have to do is put the lobster in the freezer for 30-120 minutes.  Too little and it will have no effect, too much and you will freeze your lobster. 

Step 3: A Nice Warm Bath...

To prepare your lobster's bubble bath, you need to fill your pot with enough water so that he will be completely submerged.  Then add about a teaspoon of salt per litre of water.  If you live near the ocean, you can just use seawater!  Then bring the water to a rolling boil.

Once the water is going, take your crustacean out of the freezer and quickly put him in headfirst.  Don't take the elastics off.  They do not effect the flavor and it is a lot easier to catch an escaping lobster if you don't have to worry about it snapping at you.  You should notice as soon as the lobster hits the hot water it starts to turn red.

Once the lobster is in, he needs to stay in for 10 minutes for the first pound.  After that, keep him in for about 2 minutes for every extra pound. 

Step 4: The Hard Part

This is the part that takes some force.  Take the lobster out of the pot, shake off the excess water, and place him on a cutting board facing away from you.  Take your large sharp knife and place it at the base of the tail, with the tip in between the two plates.  Then, press down to slice through the shell.  Follow up by slicing the rest of the tail in half.  After this is done, pull the claws off by twisting and try to break the shell on the knuckles and claws.  The claw meat tastes the best, so you will want to make sure that you can get to it.

Step 5: Plate It.

You have now succesfully cooked and prepared a lobster!  Just put it on plate and make it look as nice as possible.   Add plenty of lemon wedges and serve with excessive amounts of melted butter.  Enjoy!